Capture One, Luminar Neo, DXO, Affinity,... which Adobe alternative do you use?

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You can run all you want. But really. They all make you pay in the end. Even if it’s 200 over 36 months with one upgrade or needing a second program. The price difference is minimal. What suits you is where you should spend time. Steve’s video course on LR and Juienne Kost’s free videos got me where I needed to be with Adobe. Their overall bundle has a lot more than any other single program so factor that into the cost too. Not what you wanted to hear I know. Sorry.
 
Do you need an organizer/file management system? I rely on Lightroom for that, but Adobe Photoshop Elements seemed pretty good. About $100 no subscription. Add the third party Elements + and you have a fair system that combines elements of Lightroom and Photoshop.

Do you need layers? Photoshop is the best. Photoshop Elements does it to a degree. But if you only want a flat file editor with some masking then Photolab 6 is very intuitive to use and every bit as good as Lightroom. Also for flat file editing consider the software your camera maker provides. I sometimes use Canon DPP4 and it gets the job done with all the expected tools. Just a little slow. From what people here say Nikon NX Studio is similar. The advantage is you have many of the original camera settings at your disposal, where Lightroom simulates the original settings.

A third alternative is to shoot jpeg. Get your settings right in camera and call it done. Any software can do cropping and basic adjustments.

Overall it's hard to beat the Lightroom/Photoshop one-two punch. I use Photoshop a lot more than Lightroom because I like layers. But I get the math of $10 a month for the next 20 years being $2400. On the other hand we pay big bucks for our gear, so why not get the best we can out of It?
 
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I use LR and PS but should For some reason I cannot spend 100 that year then I have a few programs that I own the rights to use regardless of paid updates and new versions. Affinity 2 is a terrific program for a PS replacement and DXO For photo editing. I really don’t like to say ‘replacement’ because there are some things that they can’t do that LR and PS can. Try the free downloads.
 
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I'm using DxO PhotoLab for raw development (sometimes LightZone) + (very rarely) Affinity Photo or Gimp in case I really need more than PL offers. I used to have LR (I was never happy with LR) + PS CS6. But, I don't trust Adobe anymore. CS6 was great, but Adobe didn't tell the truth about their 64bit compatibility. CS6 still can do much more than I need. But, can't use it anymore. PSE isn't an alternative for a photographer. It's still 8bit.
Adobe had so much time, but they didn't use it. They only bring features, when their competitors bring something new, and the pressure increases before losing customers. I'm very happy not to have any Adobe products anymore.
When DxO offers an upgrade (in October/November during the last 3 years), I can decide if I want it. When their upgrade contains features I need, it's on me to accept.
 
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I faced the same question a few ago. My choice was Capture One. I bought a perpetual licence and upgraded every 2 years. At the time the cost was less than renting from Adobe, and all my raw edits will be permanently held on my hard drive. There were several reasons to switch, one I've already mentioned, to move away from perpetual renting. These reasons include a much better Fuji raw conversion than LR, a transition facility where many LR edits are carried through to C1, and the much better editing facilities in C1, incl up to 16 layers (immensely useful), which makes detailed editing so much more flexible and comprehensive. At first it was a steep learning curve but well worth the effort. The more I use C1 the more I appreciate it and find new features . A one month trial is barely enough to be convincing. There is a LOT of teaching material out there and if you want to delve into it before making a decision, that would be a good way to go. Unfortunately C1 has changed its payment structure in the last few months, but it would still be worth checking out. I am more than happy with my version 22 (2022) and at present see no reason to update further. Some say the Data Asset Manager within C1 is not as good as LR. That may be true, but I have not found anything I am unable to manage/find within C1, although it is a bit more 'clunky'. I also print directly out of C1 using the usual profiles for paper/ink etc. No problem.
Of course, C1 is an alternative to LR only. I use Affinity Photo as my PS alternative for times when I need to handle multiple images. It works OK.
Good luck with your search.
 
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solaner said:
I'm using DxO PhotoLab for raw development (sometimes LightZone) + (very rarely) Affinity Photo or Gimp in case I really need more than PL offers. I used to have LR (I was never happy with LR) + PS CS6. But, I don't trust Adobe anymore. CS6 was great, but Adobe didn't tell the truth about their 64bit compatibility. CS6 still can do much more than I need. But, can't use it anymore. PSE isn't an alternative for a photographer. It's still 8bit.
Adobe had so much time, but they didn't use it. They only bring features, when their competitors bring something new, and the pressure increases before losing customers. I'm very happy not to have any Adobe products anymore.
When DxO offers an upgrade (in October/November during the last 3 years), I can decide if I want it. When their upgrade contains features I need, it's on me to accept.
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I was in the boat of my last PS was CS6. I never knew what LR could do. With the AI Masking and Denoise along with keeping the catalog and so many features, as a bundle it’s really hard to beat. Steve’s course sold me on LR . I felt the same as you but no longer.
 
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I’ve been a Capture One user for 6-7 years now. Steep learning curve as the interface is…different. It’s better than it used to be but things like importing and exporting are unnecessarily complicated. The development is going further to the studio professional who is shooting tethered. But once learned, the results are excellent. Colour management is great, e.g., the saturation slider adjusts for skin tones and balances beautifully between already saturated colours in the original image so you get natural looking results easily. Being able to adjust colour in shadows, midtones and highlights separately makes grading very easy. The micro contrast adjustment is very good, too. Layers are very usable but masking isn’t great and tricky to use; think photoshop ten years ago.

They’re moving to a subscription model which I don’t like. I’ve been using DxO Photolab for some time (noise reduction is brilliant) and I could live with it if Capture One has to go. The standard and preset adjustments are excellent so you get a very usable image almost instantly, with the best lens corrections and camera body specific colour profiles. Global adjustments are good but I miss Capture One’s more subtle approach every time I use Photolab. Local adjustments are very powerful but those have a steep learning curve. Control points are brilliant for faces, selective shadow recovery, etc. But the other tools are a mixed bag; I feel I have less control than with Capture One. And Photolab has zero file management which is both good (no large catalogs) and bad (slow startup in folder with many images, trickier sync of metadata).

If a subscription model is a complete non-starter for you, Capture One is out and I’d recommend Photolab. There are good tutorials via PhotoJoseph and others and the results are equally good. Different, but equally good.
 
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DXO Photolab and Capture One are definitely the two best alternatives to Lightroom, both paired with Affinity Photo or maybe Luminar as a Photoshop replacement. DXO offers the noise reduction and masking over C1, but C1 has the advantage of better tonal tools such as highlights, which doesn't work as well in DXO. For me, I use DXO and affinity.
 
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JP Onstwedder said:
I’ve been a Capture One user for 6-7 years now. Steep learning curve as the interface is…different. It’s better than it used to be but things like importing and exporting are unnecessarily complicated. The development is going further to the studio professional who is shooting tethered. But once learned, the results are excellent. Colour management is great, e.g., the saturation slider adjusts for skin tones and balances beautifully between already saturated colours in the original image so you get natural looking results easily. Being able to adjust colour in shadows, midtones and highlights separately makes grading very easy. The micro contrast adjustment is very good, too. Layers are very usable but masking isn’t great and tricky to use; think photoshop ten years ago.

They’re moving to a subscription model which I don’t like. I’ve been using DxO Photolab for some time (noise reduction is brilliant) and I could live with it if Capture One has to go. The standard and preset adjustments are excellent so you get a very usable image almost instantly, with the best lens corrections and camera body specific colour profiles. Global adjustments are good but I miss Capture One’s more subtle approach every time I use Photolab. Local adjustments are very powerful but those have a steep learning curve. Control points are brilliant for faces, selective shadow recovery, etc. But the other tools are a mixed bag; I feel I have less control than with Capture One. And Photolab has zero file management which is both good (no large catalogs) and bad (slow startup in folder with many images, trickier sync of metadata).

If a subscription model is a complete non-starter for you, Capture One is out and I’d recommend Photolab. There are good tutorials via PhotoJoseph and others and the results are equally good. Different, but equally good.
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Just to clarify as I understand it: C1 used to offer a perpetual licence with all updates included for the following year up to a new 'version' release. They are now offering a perpetual licence complete at any point in time, but without the 'free' updates. These have to be paid for individually. C1 has really got themselves into a difficult transition between persuading users to switch to a subscription, whilst still retaining the perpetual licence in altered form. Version 22 is sufficient for my needs and I have not bought a new version; the new features don't interest me.
I don't find exporting too difficult. Unlike LR where a separate virtual copy has to be created for soft proofing, with C1 you always work with the image in the profile as it will be when exported or printed; you always work with the 'soft proof'. Direct importing from a memory card via C1 is awkward in my experience. I import by direct file transfer to the folder of my choice, then just synchronise C1 with that folder, fast and simple. For large numbers of files I often use FastStone for initial import/sorting.
I should add that I use Topaz software as and when needed, and these plug-ins work as they do in LR; round trip editing.
If you have any specific questions, just ask. There are several members on the forum who would be happy to help. Comparing these large professional programmes in just a few lines is always going to be inadequate.
 
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The things with Affinity is that you should not be using it as a RAW convertor, just way behind the others in that, but it is definitely the best photoshop alternative out there, but you still need a LR alternative, which is either Capture One or DXO.
 
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I was using Affinity but as of a couple weeks ago I cannot import Nikon's high efficiency Raw files. Affinity is the only non-Adobe application that I have found where I could open my old PSD files with layers and have the layers intact. I have too many of these files to go to an application that cannot open them.

For the time being I am using the Adobe Bridge and Photoshop for my Z9 files.
 
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I use the DXO PL 6 Elite edition (not Essential edition) and the NIK Collection. I cull my images in Nikon NX Studio as it is faster than DXO PL. If you process on two computers, like a laptop and then a desktop, and then copy back to the laptop, DXO has some quirks you need to be aware of.
 
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BarkingBeansCoffee said:
You can run all you want. But really. They all make you pay in the end. Even if it’s 200 over 36 months with one upgrade or needing a second program. The price difference is minimal. What suits you is where you should spend time. Steve’s video course on LR and Juienne Kost’s free videos got me where I needed to be with Adobe. Their overall bundle has a lot more than any other single program so factor that into the cost too. Not what you wanted to hear I know. Sorry.
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Proper assessment ... in the end they all have to stay in business. AI offerings are constantly changing weekly, so that is a moving target.
 
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Tony_B said:
Just to clarify as I understand it: C1 used to offer a perpetual licence with all updates included for the following year up to a new 'version' release. They are now offering a perpetual licence complete at any point in time, but without the 'free' updates. These have to be paid for individually. C1 has really got themselves into a difficult transition between persuading users to switch to a subscription, whilst still retaining the perpetual licence in altered form. Version 22 is sufficient for my needs and I have not bought a new version; the new features don't interest me.
I don't find exporting too difficult. Unlike LR where a separate virtual copy has to be created for soft proofing, with C1 you always work with the image in the profile as it will be when exported or printed; you always work with the 'soft proof'. Direct importing from a memory card via C1 is awkward in my experience. I import by direct file transfer to the folder of my choice, then just synchronise C1 with that folder, fast and simple. For large numbers of files I often use FastStone for initial import/sorting.
I should add that I use Topaz software as and when needed, and these plug-ins work as they do in LR; round trip editing.
If you have any specific questions, just ask. There are several members on the forum who would be happy to help. Comparing these large professional programmes in just a few lines is always going to be inadequate.
Click to expand...
I purchased CP1 23 last year, before they announced their new model. I have received 6 updates to my perpetual license...16.1.3 is current. While many updates are to bring new cameras and lenses into the fold; there have been some substantial functional improvements. All this being said, I do not know whether this will be different if someone purchased CP1 23 when they announced their new model or not. I am still a little confused.
 
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I use both Luminar Neo and Affinity Photo.
Luminar is finally becoming a stable product for quick editing. Affinity, for me, is good for more complex editing, such as panorama and focus stacking.
 
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@KevCan Yep, been there done that. I first replaced the bloated/costly Adobe suite with the Affinity suite b/c I do a lot of vector work also (Affinity Designer) and came to believe that Affinity Photo had "enough" of Photoshop in it for my photo work. This was 6 years ago and I am still solid with this direction. But I have tried them all and my workflow now includes this:
► Affinity Photo for majority of photo work, also selects and/or replaces objects extremely well.
► On1 Raw for RAW, best/easiest masking of any program out there, great with LUTs, and easiest built-in effects ever.
► Luminar Neo for fastest overall 0-100mph take-a-poor-image-and-make-it-look-great AI edits, Jim Nix best Youtuber pro for both Luminar & On1.
• I don't use LR at all.
• I let my Topaz & NIK licenses expire since the programs above now reasonably handle those specialties, IMHO.
• DXO and Capture 1 are both great but pricier and I chose the others above as they now pretty much include the features that were stand-out in DXO and Capture 1 (excellent at tethering BTW, but On1 at least tethers for Nikon, not Sony).
** Please understand, I'm absolutely NOT saying it takes 3 programs to replace Photoshop— it does not— I replaced Photoshop with Affinity Photo!
I'm just saying that as I tried all these other programs I found something so particularly good in them that it is worth it to me to keep them.
💥 Disclaimer. This is just me, not at all the best editor in the land, not the best photo-maker in the land, probably evaluated these programs differently than you might, so, as usual YMMV, your mileage may vary.
✔❗Good luck with your decisions.
 
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